Jacqueline Desmarais
{{Infobox person
| name = Jacqueline Desmarais
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = Jacqueline Maranger
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1928|9|20}}
| birth_place = Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
| death_date = {{death date and age|2018|3|3|1928|9|20}}
| death_place =
| other_names =
| known_for = Philanthropy
| spouse = Paul Desmarais (1953-2013; his death)
| children = 4, including Paul Jr. and André
}}
Jacqueline Desmarais, {{post-nominals|country=CAN|OC|GOQ}} (September 20, 1928 – March 3, 2018) was a Canadian billionaire, and long-term supporter of music and opera.
Early life
She was born Jacqueline Maranger in Sudbury, Ontario, to Ernest Marenger and Albertine Thanase, on September 20, 1928.{{cite web|url=http://www.nosorigines.qc.ca/GenealogieQuebec.aspx?pid=345457&lng=en|title=Birth of Jacqueline Marenger|website=NosOrigines|accessdate=March 4, 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/jacqueline-desmarais-dead-89-montreal-arts-1.4561017|title=Quebec philanthropist Jacqueline Desmarais dead at 89|website=cbc.ca|accessdate=March 4, 2018}}
Career
According to Forbes, Desmarais had a net worth of $4.2 billion in January 2015.{{cite web|title=Jacqueline Desmarais|url=https://www.forbes.com/pictures/fkem45edj/jacqueline-desmarais|website=Forbes|accessdate=January 17, 2014}}
She was a long-term supporter of music and opera in Canada, and head of the guild of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra from 1989 to 1999. In 1997, she created a foundation in her name to support young opera singers.
Honours
- In 2011, Desmarais was awarded a Knight of the Legion of Honour from the French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who called her "a great friend to France and a great lady of the arts".{{cite web|url=https://ville.montreal.qc.ca/ordre/en/jacqueline-desmarais|title=Jacqueline Desmarais|date=12 May 2017|publisher=}}
- In 2011, she received an honorary doctorate from the Université de Montréal's faculty of music.{{cite web|url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/quebec-philanthropist-jacqueline-desmarais-dies-at-89|title=Quebec philanthropist Jacqueline Desmarais dies at 89|website=montrealgazette.com|date=March 4, 2018}}
- In 2012, she was made a Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec.{{cite web|url=http://www.ordre-national.gouv.qc.ca/membres/membre.asp?id=2848|title=National Order of Quebec citation|language=French}}
- In 2013, Desmarais was named an officer of the Order of Canada. In 2016, she was awarded a Companion of Quebec's Order of Arts and Letters.
- In 2016, Montreal's Sainte-Justine Hospital christened the Jacqueline Desmarais Pavilion.
Personal life
On September 8, 1953, at Notre-de-Dame-de-Grâce, Quebec, she wed the financier Paul Desmarais (1927-2013), also a native of Sudbury.
They had two sons: Paul Jr. and André (who is married to Canadian former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's daughter France) and two daughters, Sophie and Louise.[http://blogue.quebecmetro.com/2009/06/20/andre-et-paul-jr-deviennent-officiers André et Paul Jr deviennent Officiers], Québec Métro, June 20, 2009.
Jacqueline Desmarais lived on a 75-acre estate at Domaine Laforest à Sagard, Charlevoix, Quebec, until her death in 2018.
Death
References
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Category:Canadian billionaires
Category:Businesspeople from Greater Sudbury
Category:Businesspeople from Quebec
Category:Grand Officers of the National Order of Quebec